Thursday, July 21, 2011

Rear tire problems at the German round cost Simoncelli the opportunity to fight to the line for 4th place, but some other strong showing throughout the race was an crucial achievement. “Super Sic” is gear up to battle with the leading riders in MotoGP once again and his objective for this weekend is to find the consistency over race length that will allow him to challenge for the result he is clearly capable of. Laguna Seca is one of his favorite circuits and the ideal place for him to confirm his huge potential.

While Simoncelli seems to conquer America his team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama is setting up to race there for the 1st time, having left out out last year through injury. The Nipponese rider is not in top physical status this year either as he is still struggling from the effects of a crash at Assen last month, which has also affected his self-confidence with the bike in recent races. His target in America is to rediscover his feeling with his machine and recover places as soon as possible.

Marco Simoncelli:
“4th place at Sachsenring would have been a different story but I'm still satisfied with my performance there and I take a lot of motivation with me to America. It was crucial for me to keep my form up even though it was let down I could not stick the pace for the full 30 laps. Unfortunately I had troubles with the degradation of the left side of the rear tyre and I could not push as hard at the end of the race as I could for the first half. It is a pity but at least I get the opportunity to make up for it at Laguna, a unique circuit that I really like. The track itself fascinates me, the Corkscrew is thrilling and the enthusiasm of the fans gives you an extra boost. Together with the team we'll be running to be more consistent over race length, which will be an important part of closing the gap to the leaders.”

Hiroshi Aoyama:
“I was still struggling a lot at Sachsenring with my wounds from Assen and even though I tried my best to come away with a positive result, it was very hard for me to get a feeling for the bike. I'm sorry to the team for that, and I hope to be able to make it up to them in the next race at Laguna Seca. This will be my 1st time at this circuit so it won't be an easy weekend for me, but I'll be pushing heavy to get on the pace as soon as possible.”